Change making machine



July 26, 1938.

s. J. BACHARDY 2,125,058

CHANGE MAKING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 "mi. F

Filed March 18, 1932 LI Ll HHHH I o9maW ATTORNEYS y 1938. 5. J. BACHARDY3 CHANGE MAKING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 501? P1.514 I f3 46 b g dl 9a 10 INVENTOR 09m w 4 I ATTORNEYS July 6, 1938- i4 i s. J. BACHARDY ,1

CHANGE MAKING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 f2 39 aw 3939 INVENTOR E l" I Ve a/Fen Jflaelazgy I 9;,5MM2Lw 4% ATTORNEYSJuly26,1938. SJ, ACHARDY 2,125,058

CHANGE MAKING MACHINE Fiied March 18, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORATTORNEYS Patented July 26, 1938 PATENT OFFI'CE CHANGE MAKING MACHINEStephen J. Bachardy, Allentown, Pa., assignor to Monex Corporation, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application March 18, 1932,Serial No. 599,659

Claims.

My'present invention is concerned with apparatus for discharging coinsin selectednumbers or change -in selected'amounts'and is especiallyadapted for embodiment in a change making 5- apparatusof the keyoperated type.

'An objectof the invention is to provide'a machine of this characterinvolving a minimum number-of moving parts, requiring but a light touch"for operation, devoid of complex motion transmitting'links or leversorwearing orhinging parts apt to cause looseness, noise orunreliabilit'yin operation, and a machine in which the energy requiredfor operating any of the selector keys is substantially thesame'regardless of the number and/or denominations of the coins to bedischarged. I

Another object is-toprovide a machine of this character unlikely to getout of order even under severe conditions of use or abuse, of simple,rugged-practical and durable construction, allof the elements of whichmay be readily manufactured from inexpensive parts such as die castings,metal stampings andsprings, and the parts of which may be rapidly andconveniently assembled. I 7

Another object is to provide an apparatus characterized by compactness,by a minimum number of coin receptacles for the range of changeselection available and affording-choice in the denominations of thecoins deliveredin a change making manipulationas well a's'afiordingchoice in thedischarge of one or more coins from-one and the same stack.

Anotherobjectis to provide a machine of this character which willeliminate the using of separate keys foreach amount or even foreach-multiple of five and yet capable of delivering any amount of changefrom one cent to one dollarby thesimultaneous or successive operation ofnot more than twofseparate'keys. Another objectis'toprovide a changemaking apparatus having banks of decimal keys and unit-'keys-ofdistinctively contrasting-"color or appearance and capable of single ordual actuation in accordance with whether th e'desired change requiredrepresents decimals or digits or a combihation' thereof.

Another object is'to provide'a machine of-this character-of such compactand diminutive size that'it may be conveniently "embodied in thedrawers-oi even the smallest. models of cash register.

Another object is to supplement (the regular digit and decimal keys bycertain further distinctively coloredspecial purpose keys, certain ofwhich may afford a visible field of separation between the banks of unitand decimal keys. Other advantages of the individual special purposekeys will appear from the specification.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of r the invention thedepression of a key is not effective to discharge a coin so that if theoperator realizes that he has pressed the wrong key or started todepressthe wrong key he will be aware of his'error before the changereaches the customer. The coins are ejected as an incident of keyrelease rather than key depression With a consequent better opportunityfor an operator to recognize an error before the coins have actuallybeen delivered. The liability to err is further reduced by the fact thatthe coins are passed to discharge into the hand of the clerk rather thandirectly to the customer.

"Preferably a plurality of coin stack holders'are arranged side by sideand the lowermost coin of each stack rests in untrapped position upon acoin trapping slide. The keys are arranged at the front of the machinefor movement in a horizontal plane and are each fixed to'aflathorizontally movable selector'bar. The sets of'bars may thusbe stackedto occupy a minimum of space and are arranged to straddle the coinmagazine. Each selector bar is suitably shaped to engage and actuate oneor more of the's'lides as'the bar is thrust rearwardly by pressure on'the key. Springs normally tend to hold the keys in projected positionwiththe selector bars inoperative and other springs normally :tend tohold-the trapping slides in aposition where they serve as false bottomsforthe coin stacks. As a key is pushed inwardly, however, the selectorbar moves rearwardly carrying withit the coin trapping slides and movingthem to a position where one or more of the lowermost coins of theselected stacks are .trapped in the slides. Asa-key is released the keywith its selectorisreturnedto inactiveposition by the associated springand the coin trapping slide returned by its spring to-a position Whereit will again support the coin stack and where the entrapped coins aregravitationally discharged.

Preferably the key board and selector unit are assembled independentlyof the coin magazine and coin trapping slide unit and the two units maybe assembled or disassembled with respect to each other withoutrequiring theuse of tools or the release of securing devices of anycharacter. In order to economize in the total'height of the stackedselector bars, the selector bars of the unit'keys and those of thedecimalkeys are separate and independent. Each set of bars is of generalU-shape, one set straddling one side of the coin magazine and the otherset stradding the opposite side. The frame structure may be extremelysimple consisting merely of a base plate afiording front and rear guidesfor for- I Wardly and rearwardly extending guide projections on the legsof the selector bars. The magazine and slide assemblage may also be ofsimple construction; the magazine proper consisting of a die castinghaving a plate secured in spaced relationship to the bottom thereof withthe coin trapping slides movable over the plate and having theirmovement limited by the devices which secure the plate to the casting.

The invention may be more fully understood by the following descriptionin connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:-

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a cash register drawer with my improvedchange-making mechanism mounted in the forward end thereof,

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the changemaking machine,

Fig. 3 is a side elevational View thereof taken approximately on theline 3-43 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the change-maker on thestaggered line 4-4 of Fig.

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4, but showing one of the keys thrustinwardly to cause one of the coins to be entrapped by its correlatedslide,

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view of the machine on the staggeredline 6-6 of Fig. 1, this View showing a single coin being trapped at thebottom of one of the stacks which are provided with double slides forsingle or multiple coin ejection,

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional plan view of the machine takenapproximately on the line l-l of Fig. 5,

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional View on the line 88 of Fig. 4,

- Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional View on the line 9-9 of Fig. 4,

Fig. 10 isv a bottom plan view of the magazine and slide unit removedfrom the machine,

Fig. 11 is a disassembled perspective view of the double slides usedunder certain of the coin stacks, and

Fig. 12 is a. perspective view of one of the single slides.

General assembly The machine illustrated is adapted to be used inconjunction, with the drawer D (Fig. 1) of a cash register. The draweris cut away at its central forward portion to receive the machine. Thelatter is mounted upon a flat skeleton base plate I havinglateralprojections H underlying the drawer and secured thereto by seciu'ingdevices (not shown) passed through openings I la in said projections.

Vertically disposed front and rear guide plates l2 and [3 rise from theforward and rear .edges of the base plate being attached thereto in anysuitable manner. The plates I 2'and I3 serve to support and guide theselector bars which are arranged in two sets. Each. selector barpreferably comprises a horizontally disposed metal stamping of generallyU-shape with its intermediate portion 14 lying adjacent or over onelateral edge of the base plate I 0 and with its front leg l and its rearleg l6 straddling the coin magazine and associated mechanism, which willbe later described. A forward extension |5a of the leg l5 projects.through a corresponding guide opening [5b in the front plate i2,terminating in a bent tongue 50 which carries a key K and a rearwardextension lta of the leg i6 is provided with a reduced portion 16bextending through a corresponding opening 960 in the rear plate l3whereby the selector bars are guided for fore and aft movement. Springsll encircling portions [6b and reacting against the rear guide plate l3urge the selector bars and keys forwardly toward their normalinoperative position. Two sets of these bars are provided, for instancewhere there is a twenty-two key board, eleven bars are stacked at eachside of the base, two sets of bars straddling opposite ends of the coinmagazine.

The stacks of selector bars are further prevented from riding upwardlyby flange F integral with the front guide plate [2 and overlying thestacks at the forward portion of the machine and also by bracket membersG rising from the rear of the base plate and overlying the rear legs ofthe stacked selector bars. The flange F and the brackets G of coursemerely supplement the front and rear guide plates in preventing upwardmovement and also aid in preventing undue flexing of the selector barswhich may be of relatively thin stock.

The coin magazine M comprises a casting affording a plurality ofgenerally three-quarter circular receptacles R to receive the variousstacks of coins. Coin trapping slide members S are movable back andforth under the receptacles R by actuation of the selector bars as willbe more fully hereinafter described. The coins are delivered into achute C at the lower forward end of the machine.

Preferably the coin magazine and its coin trapping slides are formed asa unit, a bottom plan View of which is shown in Fig. and this unit isremovably held in position on the base plate by a pair of bracketmembers B integral with the base plate and latching in notches inintegral rearward extensions E at the ends of the coin magazine casting.

I shall now describe in detail the construction of the individual unitswhich go to make up the machine and then explain the operation thereof.

Coin magazine and coin trapping slides The open front sides of all ofthe various coin receptacles are covered by a transparent plate Pslidably engaged in grooves H in forward extensions 2!! at the ends ofthe magazine casting. Between each pair of coin receptacles the castingincludes an integral rearwardly extending heel piece 2| the outermost ofthese heel pieces constituting the notched members or extensions E whicharelocked under the brackets B. A cross bar 22 is screwed or otherwisesecured to the rear ends of the heel pieces 2| and a retainer plate 23for the coin trapping slide members S is secured to the underface of theheel pieces 2| by screws 24.

With particular reference to Figs. 9 to 12 inclusive, it will beobserved that the coin magazine is provided at the left with areceptacle 30 forhalf dollars. To the right of this receptacle is astack holder 3| for quarters, after which follows the receptacle 32 fornickels', 33 for dimes, another nickel receptacle 34 and two pennyreceptacles 35 and 36.

Under the quarter receptacle 3|, the dime receptacle 33 and the pennyreceptacle 36, there are a pair of super-imposed coin trapping slidememwith a rearwardly extending tailpiece '39. At

itsfront end, the'slide carries o'ris integral with an upstanding fingerMl lying'in the plane of the front legs of one'stack of selector bars.Immediately beneath each coin receptacle the' 'coin magazine isundercut, as at "4|, these undercuts cooperating with the retainer plate23 -to define guidewaysin which-thejslidesare movable. The tail piece 390f each'slide 31 's'lides in the cross bar22. H

Each slidemember "is normally spring urged forwardly by a coiled'expansion spring "42 encircling the tail piece 391 and' reactin'gagainst the cross bar 22. Theforward spring impelled movement of eachslide as well as the rearward selector bar impelled movement thereof'islimited'by the engagement of theends of slots 43 in the edges of theselectorbars with the shanks of the screws 24" which hold the'baseplate23 in position.

Where double slides are used as under the dime magazine, thesuperimposed slide members 31a and 311) are provided with-alined cointrapping apertures 3811 and 38b. The upstanding fingers a and 401) whichcorrespond with thefinger '48 are disposed atopposite sides of the frontedges of the two slideplates, fingerdllbbeing'accommodated in a. notch44 in the superposed slide 'plate'3'la. Thus as the finger 40b is pushedrearwardly by one of the selector bars, both of the slide plates 3la and311) will 'be actuated. If, however, the finger 40a of the plate31a ispushed rearwardly this slide member will travel alone.

In order to prevent interference between the actuating spring 420, and42b of the double slide members the tail pieces 39a and 39b arelaterally displaced with respect to each other. Furthermore, slide 31ais provided with a notch 45 therein of greater width than the diameterof the spring which encircles the tailpiece-39b-of the companion slide,to "the end that the slide 31a may be thrust rearwardly without engagingthe spring "4219. This notch 'has nofunctionwhen the two slides aresimultaneously thrust rearwardly. 3 v

The retainer plate '2 3'is provided with aplurality of semi-circularnotches 4e registering with the circular openings 38, 38a, "etc/of thecoin trapping slides when the slides are'in their normal forwardposition. Thus the slides define false bottoms for the stacks of coinsin the receptacles 3!), 35, etc. and the basep-late123 defines a truebottom for these stacks of coins. g,

After the slides have been thrust rearwardly so that one or more coinsfrom the, stackhave gravitationally descended into the coin trappingopenings of the slides, the retainer plate 23 .prevents the coins fromdroppingiurther until such timeas the. slides are released and springforas false bottoms for the remaining coins of the various-coin stacks.

Keyboard andse'lectors The arrangement of the selector bars is such asto present two rows of eleven key-carrying extensions 15a at the frontof the machine. These rows are arranged one above the other and each rowof extensions ifia is of an exceedingly obtuse angularioontour, in thepresent instance, defining an angle of one hundred and sixty-fivedegrees as best "shown in Fig. 2. The stacking of the selector'bars inthe manner previously described necessarily causes the members l5ato bedisposed at different levels. .This would not necessarily throwthe tworowsof keys into the angular conformation shown since if desired the'keyc'arrying tongues 50 of each extension 'l'5a might be made of adifferentlen'gthto present two'truly horizontal rows of keys. ,In order'toavoid'the additional manufacturing expense of making the lie-ycarrying part of each selector of adifferent length I prefer to use keycarrying shanks of uniform'length merely bending the shanks 5d of theupper row of keys slightly upwardly and the corresponding shank'fiiia ofthe lower row'of keys slightly downwardly, whereby to space'the two keyrows a sufficient distance apart.

I also prefer to mount each key with its axis atan angle of about thirtydegrees to the horizontal. This arrangement makes the keyboard visibleto an operator standing above, and'in front of the machine. The use ofcarrying key shanks of uniform nature also obviates any possibility ofunequal 'leverages'being applied upon the selectorswhen operating thekeysthus practically eliminating thedanger of breaking oil a key shank5E3 in'the event that one of. the selector bars was temporarily blockedagainst rearward movement by some foreign article which had found itsway into the machine.

7 illustrates two selector bar constructions, it being readilyunderstood thatto design the requisite'selector bar for any key it ismerely necessary that the bar be provided with portions iiiiarranged inproper position'to actuate the fingers of the desired slide members andwith one or more notches-3! to clear the other "fingers and preventactuation thereof.

Of the two selector bars shown in'pl'an, one

bar T63 clears the decimal '50 key and includes,

portion "till to actuateboth fingers of the double quarter slides. Theother bar "64 is attached to the units key!) and arr'anged to engage thedouble slide member of one .penny magazine, the single slide member ofthe other penny magazine and the slide member of one of the nickelmagazines. It will be observed in this conection that the coin trappingslide of the magazine 35 is suificiently thick to entrap two pennies,whereas the'double slide arrangement of the other penny magazine permitsthe selective discharge of "either one or two pennies.

In the absence of some means to prevent it, the presence of any coin inthemachina'of slightly less than a normal thickness would tend to blockoperation as soon as a slide was shifted rear wardly. The thin coin andthe one above'it would both drop down with the upper coin projectingslightly into the trapping openingthus blocking forward movement of theslide and jamming the machine. Thisis taken'care of by providing anarcuate c'arnming recess at the'rear upper edge of each of thecointrapping 'openings. Thus where a slide is designed to discharge onlyone coin andthat 'coin is thin'and is 'followedbya second superimposedcoin which partially enters the opening, the latter coin*will'be'camnied out of the opening as the slide moves forwardly due tothe action of the camming portion 10 under the rear edge of theundesired coin.

Noting the key board in Fig. 2 it will be seen that in addition toregular white decimal keys and black digit keys I have shown four redspecial purpose keys, two of which serve to divide the decimal key bankfrom the digit key bank and two others of which are located at the lefthand side of the key board at the end of the decimal key blank.

These special purpose keys are marked respectively .10, .25, .50 and1.00. The dollar key is simply for convenience in making change for adollar where a patron desires it. The dime key serves to make change fora dime, that is, deliver two nickels instead of the ten cent piecedelivered by the regular ten cent key of the unit key bank. The fiftycent special purpose key delivers a fifty cent piece incontra-distinction to the two quarters delivered by the regular fiftycent decimal key. The twenty-five cent key when depressed delivers asingle quarter and is of advantage principally because of the greatnumber of times where the twenty-five cents in change is required andsuch change may be supplied by a single United States coin.

The right hand bank of selector bars looking at the machine from thefront mounts all of the digit keys and the dime and dollar specialpurpose keys. The special dime and dollar keys, each being colored red,afford a prominent line of color demarcation between the units keys andthe decimal keys. The other bank of eleven keys contains all of thedecimal keys and the special purpose twenty-five cent and fifty centkeys.

The operation of the machine will be in large part obvious from theforegoing description but "it may be briefly summarized as follows:

Assume it is desired to discharge the sum of fifty-nine cents; theoperator while holding one hand under the mouth of the chute C simplydepresses the decimal key 5! and the unit key 9.

' By this depression the cent key selector bar shifts both twenty-fivecent slides rearwardly entrapping two quarters. The 9 cent key thrustingits selector bar rearwardly pushes back the other nickel slide and thedouble thickness two penny slide and both slides of other penny stackthereby entrapping a nickel and four pennies. By releasing the buttonsthe entrapped coins are carried forwardly by the expansion of springs 42of their slide members 31, drop into the chute C and slidegravitationally through the outlet opening in the chute into the waitinghand of. the operator. Simultaneously the selector bars are returned tonormal position by their springs I1.

It is worthy of note that each key is directly rigidly connected to asingle selective device, i. e., selector bar and that a thrust on thekey is transmitted directly and as a straight rectilinear motion of theselector bar, there being no motion translating device, no hinges and nointermediate linkage or leverage of any kind. There is no danger ofcooking, jamming or binding, but little operative effort is needed andthat effort is substantially uniform for each of the keys. While the keyboard is small and compact, coins in any desired denominations inamounts up to a dollar and over may be selectively delivered by theactuation of at most two selector keys.

The speed of the machine is not retarded by the provision of longgravity chutes or by the necessity'of the operator having to wait forone customer to remove his change before making change for another.

In use of the machine there is no danger of the coin magazine and slideunit becoming disassembled from the associated selector bar mechanismsince with the slides held in their normal forwardly projecting positionit is impossible'to rock the members E out of engagement with theirlatches. In order to effect disengagement of the coin mechanism andslide unit from the rest of the machine all of the slides must be thrustrearwardly against the action of their springs in order to permit themto clear the front legs of the selector bars as the coin magazine unitis rocked out of its latched position. Similarly, when applying the coinmagazine all of the slides must be pushed to their released position andthe members E slid under their latches with the coin magazine canted.

While the'apparatus has been shown as applied to a cash register drawerit will be apparent that it might be mounted on the edge of a table orin any other suitable location without any change in its operation andwith but minor changes in its mounting arrangement.

It will thus be seen that there is herein described apparatus in whichthe several features of this invention are embodied, and which apparatusin its action attains the various objects of the invention and is wellsuited to meet the requirements of practical use.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:-

1. In a machine of the class described a coin magazine presenting aseries of coin stack receptacles, coin trapping slides arranged undersaid receptacles and having coin receiving openings therein normally outof registration with the stack and in advanced position whereby said Islides normally serve as supports for the stacks,

a plurality of selector bars mounted for horizontal sliding movement andincluding means directly to engage the slides and force them into cointrapping position, a key bank comprising a plurality of keys, eachmounted on one of said selector bars and serving as an actuating meanstherefor, springs acting on the selector bars to normally hold them outof engagement with the slides and means under the slides for supportingcoins trapped therein while the slide is moving from its trapping to itsdischarging position.

2. In a machine of the class described, a coin magazine to retainarplurality of stacks of coins, a plurality of flat superimposedhorizontal selector bars, means mounting the bars and guiding them forsliding movement, each bar being of general U-shape to straddle one endof the coin magazine, keys connected to the legs of the bars foractuating them, coin trapping slides arranged under the coin magazineand actuated by said selector bars to entrap a coin as the bars areforced rearwardly by their keys and means for moving the coin trappingslides to coin 3. In a machine of the class described, an elongated coinmagazine including a plurality of laterally adjacent coin stack holders,a plurality of flat superimposed horizontal selector bars, meansmounting the bars and guiding them for sliding movement, each bar beingof general U- shape to straddle one end of the coin magazine, keysconnected to the bars for actuating them, coin trapping slides arrangedunder the coin stacks of the magazine and actuatable by said selectorbars into coin trapping position as the bars are forced rearwardly bytheir keys and means for moving the coin trapping slides to coinejecting position upon the release of said keys, each slide including afinger extending upwardly therefrom at its forward end, the forward legsof the selector bars being suitably shaped to engage one or morepredetermined fingers and thereby simultaneously operate the properslides.

4. A change making machine including a frame structure, an elongatedcoil magazine mounted on said frame structure and providing receptaclesfor supporting a plurality of generally vertical coin stacks, two setsof selector bars each of generally U-shape each set straddling one endof the coin magazine, each set of bars comprising a plurality of fiatsuperimposed members guided for sliding movement at the front and rearof the coin magazine, key supporting means projecting from the frontlegs of the selectors, coin trapping slide mechanism moved into positionby the selectors for entrapping coins from one or more stacks of themagazine as a selector is actuated by its key, said slides beingautomatically returnable to coin discharging position when the actuatingselector is released.

5. A change making machine including a frame structure, an elongatedcoin magazine mounted on said frame structure and providing receptaclesfor supporting a plurality of generally vertical coin stacks, two setsof selector bars each of generally U-shape each set straddling one endof the coin magazine, each set of bars comprising a plurality of fiatsuperimposed members guided for sliding movement at the front and rearof the coin magazine, key supporting means projecting from the frontlegs of the selectors, coin trapping slide mechanism engaged and movedinto position by the selectors for entrapping coins from one or morestacks of the magazine as a selector is actuated by its key, each ofsaid slides having an upstanding operating arm and being automaticallyreturnable to coin discharging position when the actuating selector isreleased, the coin trapping slide members for certain stacks including aplurality of individual superimposed slides operable singly or in unisonby the cooperation of the upstanding arm of the lower slide member withthe slide superimposed member to discharge one or more coins from thestack as the selectors are actuated.

STEPHEN J. BACHARDY.

